KEVIN HARVICK
Martinsville Advance
No. 4 Hunt Brothers® Pizza Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Xfinity 500 (Round 35 of 36)

● Time/Date: 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 29

● Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway

● Layout: .526-mile oval

● Laps/Miles: 500 laps/263 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 130 laps / Stage 2: 130 laps / Final Stage: 240 laps

● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Baseball’s postseason has reached its homestretch with the World Series beginning this Friday. And the same way hitters crack the bat and put the ball in play, Kevin Harvick has proven to be a heckuva cleanup hitter at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, site of Sunday’s Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series race. Harvick is batting well over .400 when it comes to finishing among the top-10 at Martinsville. The driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has made 44 career Cup Series starts at the .526-mile oval and recorded 20 top-10s, the third-highest tally among active Cup Series drivers. Only Denny Hamlin (24 top-10s) and Kyle Busch (21 top-10s) have more.

● Among those 20 top-10s earned by Harvick is a victory in April 2011. He defeated Dale Earnhardt Jr., by .727 of a second to win the Goody’s Fast Relief 500. It was Harvick’s 20th NASCAR Cup Series start at the track and his 16th career Cup Series victory. Harvick now has 60 career Cup Series wins and is 10th on the all-time win list.

● Harvick’s next-best finish outside of that lone Martinsville win in April 2011 is a third-place drive in October 2010, the race that preceded Harvick’s victory. It was the start of a three-race run of top-fives at Martinsville, as Harvick followed his win with a fourth-place effort in the series’ return to the facility that October.

● Harvick’s best Martinsville finish since joining SHR in 2014 is a pair of fifth-place results – Oct. 29, 2017 and March 20, 2018.

● Martinsville is the shortest track on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and its tight corners with only 12 degrees of banking means that beating and banging – be it door-to-door or bumper-to-bumper – is commonplace. But that also means accidents are prevalent, and being able to keep one’s car running from start to finish is easier said than done. In Harvick’s 44 career Cup Series starts at Martinsville, he has an impressive lap-completion rate of 98.4 percent. That means of the 21,843 laps available to Harvick, he has failed to complete just 344 of those laps. No active driver has completed more laps at Martinsville than Harvick. In fact, the next-closest driver in this category is Kyle Busch with 17,486 laps completed, 4,013 fewer than Harvick, or the equivalent of eight Cup Series races at Martinsville. Eight is how many more starts Harvick has than Busch at Martinsville.

● Harvick has tasted success in every type of car he has raced at Martinsville. In addition to his NASCAR Cup Series win, he has a NASCAR Xfinity Series triumph and three NASCAR Truck Series victories.

● Harvick is undefeated in the Xfinity Series at Martinsville. He earned the equivalent of a walk-off home run on July 22, 2006, when in his only Xfinity Series start at the track, he led three times for a race-high 149 laps to take the win by .271 of a second over runner-up Clint Bowyer.

● Harvick’s three Truck Series wins at Martinsville came in 17 starts. He won on March 30, 2009 (defeating Ron Hornaday Jr.), March 27, 2010 (defeating Hornaday again) and March 31, 2012 (defeating Ty Dillon).

● The Truck Series is where Harvick made his first start of any kind at Martinsville – Sept. 26, 1998, when he finished 25th. Harvick earned his first top-10 at Martinsville on April 17, 1999 in a Ford F-150 for team owner Jim Herrick.

● DYK? Harvick tested a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car at Martinsville on Jan. 21, 2020. The Modified Tour is NASCAR’s oldest division and it is the only open-wheel series sanctioned by NASCAR. Compared to a NASCAR Cup Series car, a Tour car is 11 inches shorter in height and a little more than 23 inches wider. It also weighs nearly 800 pounds less. Harvick’s test came via Ryan Preece’s No. 6NY Tour car. Preece was the 2013 series champion and he earned the first of his 25 career Modified Tour victories at Martinsville on Sept. 20, 2008, leading 265 of the race’s 300 laps. Harvick and his company, KHI Management, represent Preece, who joined SHR fulltime this season as the driver of the No. 41 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Cup Series.

● The 2023 season marks the 14th year of partnership between Harvick and Hunt Brothers Pizza. The nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry has sponsored Harvick for years in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series. Hunt Brothers Pizza joined Harvick fulltime in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2019 and has been a mainstay in NASCAR’s premier division ever since. With more than 9,000 locations across the country, Hunt Brothers Pizza is the nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry. Hunt Brothers Pizza offers original and thin crust pizzas available as a grab-and-go Hunk A Pizza®, perfect for today’s on-the-go lifestyle, or as a customizable whole pizza that is an exceptional value with All Toppings No Extra Charge®. Hunt Brothers Pizza is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and is family owned and operated. For additional information, visit www.HuntBrothersPizza.com or download the app.

● Said Harvick about his more than decade-long partnership with Hunt Brothers Pizza: “Our fans are pretty loyal to the brands that are on our cars. Many of my pictures come from the standees in the store. People take selfies next to them. There are a number of reasons you have sponsorships – you want that brand recognition, the brand integration. Hunt Brothers Pizza is a very family-oriented company and we’re a very family-oriented group. Those relationships you build through the years with brands that recognize and reflect what you believe in are few and far between. We’ve grown with the Hunt Brothers Pizza brand. They’ve grown with us and have been very loyal to us, and I think our fans are very loyal to Hunt Brothers Pizza. It’s fun to see that brand recognition and that understanding of loyalty and partnership. You realize how many Hunt Brothers Pizza stores there are as you drive to racetracks.”

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang

Racing at Martinsville, and in the NASCAR Cup Series as a whole, seems like a series of sink-or-swim moments. Do you view it that way, too?

“You have to be able to survive in those sink-or-swim moments and figure it out. Even if you’re nervous as all get-out, you have to be able to get in the car and not look nervous and not be worried about the outcome and where things go. You have to be willing to just jump in there and kind of wing it. We’re very organized and very structured and everything is very much planned, but there are those moments when you just have to get in there and drive and you just have to kind of let things work out. But you can still take control and you can still be vocal and you can still know what you want in the racecar. You don’t have to get in there and just agree that the car is OK. If it’s not OK, it’s not OK, and you’ve got to speak up. When it comes to the performance side of things, I’m pretty straightforward and strict, so I’m going to speak up.”

Martinsville is the penultimate race on the 2023 schedule and its outcome determines the Championship 4. What’s it like having such a high-stakes race at such a tight, short track?

“I think every racetrack has high stakes at this particular point in the season. Martinsville is a racetrack that usually has a little bit more drama than most. Hopefully, we can come out on the right side of everything.”

Are you compartmentalizing your emotions as your final season winds down?

“I feel like that’s something that, throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to be pretty good at. You just go and do what you’re supposed to do no matter what the surrounding situation is, whether it’s chaotic, or you’re running good, you’re running bad, you ran into somebody, last year, first year, it’s just been one of those things that I’ve been fortunate to be able to do – just climb in the car, put the window net up, and it’s just what you do. No matter the magnitude of the scenario, it’s just part of the next step to get to where you want to be. Going into the year, obviously we knew that we’d planned out the last season of what we wanted to do and it’s just part of the plan. For me, we’re definitely structured planners, so you just execute that plan and then you go to the next one. I know at the end of the year it’ll obviously look different but, on the flip side, I’ve been very fortunate to be successful at what I do. I’ve basically lived out my childhood dream to do what I wanted to do, and now it’s time to move on. It’s time to do something different after we go to Phoenix and race there for the last time, and for me, that’s exciting.”

How does having your family at the track make you feel, especially with this being your final season?

“Well, Keelan and Piper are both at a great age, but I think with Keelan, he’s obviously paying attention to a lot of things, and unfortunately there’s this thing called YouTube and you have to go back and address a lot of things you’ve done throughout your career. So we’ve had a lot of great conversations, about the type of person and driver you want to be, and the responsibility that comes with that, and just the way things operate, and giving it everything that you have and, a lot of times, doing that by example, whether it’s in the gym or in a meeting or on a sponsorship call or whatever that is, there’s just a lot that goes into it. So being able to take him around to a lot of the things that you currently have going on is something that’s good for him to see and good for him to be around. And doing a lot of those things that Richard Childress did in the very beginning of my career, introducing me to this person and that person, and having relationships, because in today’s world, building a brand is important, and being able to have a jumpstart on being able to build his brand with the relationships we’ve built for 30 years in a sport that is built to be passed down from generation to generation, that’s what we do. When you look at all the different families that have raced throughout the years, and being able to share that with him and Piper, is something that’s really what NASCAR racing is all about. For me, it’s fun to be able to introduce them and share the sport that we love.”

Once you have more time to spend with Keelan and Piper, what will be your approach be in this next stage of your life?

“Well, we’re not going to sit at home. I know that for sure. I think Keelan and Piper are obviously at two different points in their lives. Piper, we’re trying to help figure out exactly what she likes, what she doesn’t like, where she wants to go, what she wants to do over the next several years. Keelan’s 11, and being able to be at the racetrack with him, and being able to help him through those hard moments and push him past his comfort zone is important, and I think it not coming from somebody else is good. Like, I didn’t get to see Piper race her first go-kart race, and now she doesn’t want to race unless I’m there. So to be able to let her race, play baseball, whatever it is, you’re going to be there more than you’re not, instead of not being there trying to find the best people to do the things that you would do and coach through the coach. I still may have to coach through the coach a little bit just because you have to push them hard and make them accountable and responsible for just being good humans. And I think at the point that Keelan is at, at least for the foreseeable future, it’s important to be around and help him navigate the world as it goes around. For me, being able to be at more of those events is something I think they want and I definitely want.”

In your 23-year NASCAR Cup Series career, you’ve made quite an impact on many of your driving peers. When you’re no longer behind the wheel next year, do you feel you can still have an impact inside the garage and with its personalities?

“Somebody’s going to have to step into being that active driver leader. I’m still going to be pro-driver more than anything because I want them all to be rockstars, and in my new job at FOX, if they’re all rockstars, then it makes my job a lot easier. I want them to make more money, I want them to be more known, and I want them to be the best athletes that they can be. But my big thing is, I don’t want to overextend myself to where I become so busy that I can’t go do the things that I retired to do with my family.”

No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Kevin Harvick

Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Rodney Childers

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Robert “Cheddar” Smith

Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Engineer: Stephen Doran

Hometown: Butler, Pennsylvania

Engineer: Dax Gerringer

Hometown: Gibsonville, North Carolina

Spotter: Tim Fedewa

Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey

Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jeremy Howard

Hometown: Delhart, Texas

Jack Man: Brandon Banks

Hometown: High Point, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Evan Marchal

Hometown: Westfield, Indiana

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Tyler Trosper

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Mechanic: Nick DeFazio

Hometown: Orange, California

Tire Specialist: Jamie Turski

Hometown: Trumbull, Connecticut

Engine Tuner: Robert Brandt

Hometown: Mobile, Alabama

Transporter Co-Driver: Rick Hodges

Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Stephen Mitchell

Hometown: Woodville, Ohio

John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Team

START: 24TH
FINISH: 32ND
OWNERS POINTS:

John Hunter Nemechek’s Post-Race Thoughts: “Frustrating day for us at Homestead-Miami. Just had a few mistakes at the start of the race that set us back and really we weren’t ever able to recover from it because of the lack of cautions. Then the deal on the backstretch ended our day. It’s tough because I felt like we had pretty decent speed, but never truly had an opportunity to show for it. I’m glad that we hopefully got the kinks knocked out before we start the season off next year, and I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to step in early this weekend. We’re going to fight hard for the final two races of the season in the Xfinity Series, and get straight to work in the off season with the No. 42 team at LEGACY M.C.”

Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

START: 19TH
FINISH: 14TH
DRIVER POINTS:

Erik Jones’ Post-Race Thoughts: “Just an OK, up-and-down, day for the No. 43 Allegiant Chevy team. We had some good runs and some bad runs, but overall, ended up with a decent day. We needed that. We’ve had some bad finishes; some weren’t necessarily all our fault; we were just in a bad spot. It’s nice to come home with an OK day, and hopefully go to Martinsville (Speedway) and get it a little bit better.”

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro entries, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty “The King” serves as team ambassador.

In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level.

Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow LEGACY MOTOR CLUB on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
RACE: 4EVER 400 DATE: OCTOBER 22, 2023

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 FREIGHTLINER FORD MUSTANG

START: 26TH STAGE ONE: 16TH STAGE TWO: 20TH FINISH: 12TH POINTS: 23RD

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang, raced in the top 10 in the final stint before ultimately recording a solid 12th-place finish Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Piloting a pink Freightliner scheme in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and carrying the names of multiple breast cancer warriors, Cindric started deep in the field but swiftly gained momentum, jolting forward seven spots less than 30 laps in. The young driver’s first comments over the radio came on Lap 28 when he asked for the car to be snugged up a bit, shortly before making a green-flag pit stop on Lap 31 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Steadily climbing up the charts, Cindric keyed up the radio under caution on Lap 76 to inform the team that the recent adjustment “made the car really comfortable to drive” and finished Stage 1 in the 16th position. Crew Chief Brian Wilson assembled a routine service stop under the Stage break and Cindric restarted 16th. Cindric dropped to 25th as the run went on, alerting the team that the car was “too tight, center and exit.” On Lap 125, the Team Penske driver visited pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Cindric was able to regain some ground, taking the Stage 2 green-and-white checkered flag 20th in the running order. The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion hit pit road following the completion of the segment for service and lined up 21st for the restart. Finding his rhythm again, Cindric charged up to the 14th position by the time a caution flew on Lap 214 with just 54 laps remaining in the race. While under the yellow flag, the driver commented that the car was getting tight. When pit road opened, Cindric returned to the attention of the Freightliner pit crew for a fast four-tire stop and positioned himself in 10th for the restart with 46 laps to go. A couple of cautions flew, and Cindric made his final appearance on pit road on Lap 236, pitting from the 11th position for fresh tires, fuel and an adjustment after asking the team to free up the car a little. Putting up a strong fight to the finish, Cindric took the checkered flag 12th.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, it was a really great execution day by everyone on the No. 2 car. It was nice to put the whole thing together. I thought we had some really solid speed, Brian did a great job on strategy, and I felt like we kept up with the track pretty well. It was really cool to be able to run the pink Freightliner scheme and honor breast cancer warriors through the Freightliner Goes Pink campaign and hopefully give those families a great run. I had a lot of fun today; I’m confident we can make this the norm.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/DURACELL FORD MUSTANG

START: 10TH STAGE ONE: 3RD STAGE TWO: 1ST FINISH: 2ND POINTS: 3RD

RACE RUNDOWN: After entering Sunday’s 400-mile race at Homestead-Miami Speedway 17 points below the cut line, Ryan Blaney battled his way to a second-place finish to leave the second race of the Round of 8 ten points to the good heading into the final elimination race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The result marked Blaney’s best career finish at the 1.5-mile oval as the Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang led five times for 53 laps in the runner-up effort. Blaney displayed exceptional long-run speed throughout the course of the afternoon as he raced his way up to third in the running order following the first round of green flag pit stops at the halfway point of Stage 1. As he began to reel in the leaders with the stage coming to a close, the caution flag flew on lap 77 to bring his momentum to a halt as Stage 1 ended under yellow resulting in a third-place finish. Following a four-tire stop with a round of adjustments at the stage break, Blaney lined up to restart fifth before settling into fourth by lap 95. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler brought Blaney to pit road during the green flag pit cycle on lap 114 for four tires and another round of adjustments as the No. 12 crew sent him out of the pit stall ahead of the No. 24 to cycle to third in the running order. Blaney continued to charge forward during the ensuing run as he made his way around the No. 6 for the second spot while cutting down the deficit to the leader to 1.5 seconds with eight laps to go in the stage. As the high line continued to work in Blaney’s favor, he darted to the inside of the No. 5 in turn four to take the lead with three laps to go in the stage, resulting in his fifth stage win of the season. The No. 12 team put together another quick, four-tire stop at the stage break to win the race off pit road as Blaney lined up to restart on the outside of row one and battled with the No. 24 for the lead during the opening laps of the final stage. Despite a tight-handling condition that began to set in, Blaney maintained a half-second lead over the No. 11 with the final green flag pit stops of the afternoon looming. Hassler made the call to pit from the lead on lap 213 with the No. 5 following in behind Blaney to pit road, but the No. 5 overshot the pit entry and made contact with Blaney’s right rear and piled into the sand barrels, bringing out the caution in the middle of the pit cycle. Since Blaney crossed the commitment line before the caution came out, he was able to get his four-tire service without penalty and rejoined the field scored 10th in the running order. The red flag was displayed with 51 laps to go and once back under yellow, the leaders made their way to pit road to allow Blaney to retake the lead for the following restart with 46 laps remaining. As the leaders jockeyed for position with the laps winding down, Blaney found himself in a back-and-forth battle with the No. 11 before a mechanical issue sent the No. 11 into the wall in turn one just in front of Blaney to bring out the yellow on lap 235. The leaders hit pit road for one final stop as the No. 12 team got Blaney off pit road second, setting up a restart with 25 laps to go. Despite falling back to third during the opening laps following the restart, Blaney fought back to take second from the No. 24 and set his sights on the No. 20 for the lead but was unable to close the distance, resulting in a second-place finish.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “We were trying. We just needed laps. The long run car was really good. I just couldn’t fire off for 10 laps or so. I think the track cooling off helped those guys. I think we were better in the hotter, slicker conditions when fire off speed didn’t matter as much and it fell off quicker. That played into our benefit. It got a little cooler at the end and we never really front the front end speed and they did. We ran out of laps a little bit. I am proud of the effort. It was a really good day, we just got beat a little bit there at the end.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG

START: 36TH STAGE ONE: 15TH STAGE TWO: 10TH FINISH: 8TH POINTS: 13TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Despite starting at the tail-end of the field in a backup car due to an incident in Saturday’s practice session, Joey Logano raced his way to an eighth-place finish Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway, marking his first top-10 finish since 2019 at the 1.5-mile oval. Logano fought a loose-handling Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang during the opening run, but crew chief Paul Wolfe kept Logano on the track until the very end of the first green-flag pit cycle as he made his way up to second in the running order before hitting pit road on lap 39. Logano was scored 27th following the four-tire stop and a round of adjustments but managed to stay on the lead lap as he charged all the way up to 15th on the leaderboard by the time the caution flag flew on lap 77 to bring Stage 1 to a close. After restarting Stage 2 from 15th, Logano reported a tight-handling condition on the opening laps of the ensuing run while working the top lane along the wall, but managed to maintain his position up until the next round of green flag pit stops began to cycle. Wolfe brought Logano to pit road on lap 114 before the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang was scored 11th by the time the cycle was complete. Logano broke into the top-10 with 15 laps to go in the second segment and ultimately came away with a 10th-place finish in Stage 2. The No. 22 crew gained Logano four spots on pit road following a four-tire stop at the stage break as he lined up to take the green flag from the inside of row three. Despite struggles in dirty air, Logano was scored eighth at the time of the caution on lap 213 in the middle of the green flag pit cycle. After the red flag was lifted, Logano followed the leaders down pit road for four-tire stops as the field lined up to take the green. The caution flag flew yet again on lap 235 prompting the final pit stops of the afternoon as the No. 22 team reeled off another quick, four-tire stop to set up Logano to restart fifth with 25 laps to go. He worked his way up to fourth in the running order during the opening laps of the final restart, but ultimately took the checkered flag eighth for his 16th top-10 finish of the season.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Can’t say enough about the effort from this 22 team this weekend. To come away with a top-10 – and competing for a top-five late – after starting in the back brought the weekend to a close on a high note for us. Our Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang was really strong running the wall and we made up a lot of ground up there. Really proud of the result and looking forward to finishing the year strong.”

WHAT’S NEXT: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 29 for the final race in the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 and the penultimate race of the 2023 Cup Series season. Coverage of the Xfinity 500 begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

No. 6’s Impressive Day Early Turns South in Late-Race Caution

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Oct. 22, 2023) – Brad Keselowski led four different times early in Sunday afternoon’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, earning top five finishes in each of the first two stages, but was collected in a late-race caution to finish 28th.

Keselowski’s afternoon began inside the top five after he qualified fourth during Saturday’s session. He remained there for much of the opening action, advancing to second just 25 laps in. Following the team’s first pit stop of the day at lap 32, the BuildSubmarines.com Ford cycled to the lead after an impressive first stop by the crew. He held the lead for 13 laps at that point, outrunning the No. 5 for the middle portion of the stage.

The first non-stage caution flew at lap 76, which turned into the stage break with Keselowski finishing second in the opening segment. After firing off second to start stage two, Keselowski again hit pit road in second at lap 116 under green, and went on to finish the stage in fifth.

Keselowski’s day turned south with 54 laps to go when the caution flew as a pit cycle had just begun, as the No. 6 had just hit pit road a few laps prior. He was 19th at the time – one lap down – as the red flag was displayed for cleanup at pit entry.

After being rewarded the free pass, Keselowski restarted 16th with 46 to go. The caution immediately flew as Keselowski and a handful of other cars were involved in a crash. Keselowski continued on, but the damage proved to be more severe than originally thought. Needed repairs put him on pit road multiple times, leading to the 28th-place finish.

Up Next

Martinsville Speedway hosts the final race in the Round of 8 next weekend, which determines the Championship 4. Race coverage on Sunday is set for 2 p.m. ET on NBC, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.

Fastenal Ford Bounces Back After Tough Opening Stage

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Oct. 22, 2023) – Chris Buescher’s Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway didn’t go as planned, finishing 21st in the Fastenal Ford.

“Yeah, that was a brutal day,” Buescher said after the race. “We worked hard on this Fastenal Mustang and got it better. We started off the race really tight and went a lap down and didn’t have any opportunities to get that back.

“The cautions didn’t fall at the right time for us and about the time they would start the green flag cycles something would happen. We couldn’t quite catch the break we needed. We did find some good speed and I feel like on equal tires there at the end we would have been able to move up quite a bit. It just wasn’t the case. We had 10 laps or something on tires and had to finish out.”

Buescher began the afternoon from the 17th spot, and through an opening stage that saw just one caution, finished 28th as the segment ended under yellow. From there, he fired off in 26th, needing another quick yellow to get back on track.

The stage ran all under green as Buescher finished in 26th, still needing a timely caution. He fired off 23rd for the final stage, but the next caution didn’t wave until 54 to go. He had just pitted prior to the caution, catching a host of cars on the wrong end of track position. He waved around after the race resumed from red-flag conditions, still needing another yellow late.

He received two more chances, eventually earning the free pass under yellow with 32 to go. The final restart came with 26 laps remaining as Buescher picked off a few cars in the closing laps to finish 21st.

“We were still able to get to the last four or five cars that were on fresh tires, so I know we were a lot better than we had been and were making good progress, it was just too late. Too late in the day to make anything happen.”

Up Next

Martinsville Speedway hosts the final race in the Round of 8 next weekend, which determines the Championship 4. Race coverage on Sunday is set for 2 p.m. ET on NBC, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.